Superflex and Kool Q. Cumber to the Rescue! introduces readers to the Thinkable Kool Q. Cumber (we call him Kool, for short!). Kool helps Social Town citizens stay calm when problems happen, and use strategies they learn to figure out the size of a problem and the expected reaction size. In the story, Aiden and his classmates present science projects, but Aiden’s friend Sam becomes frustrated with problems throughout the day. As Sam feels his brain being invaded by Glassman, he uses the strategies he learned from Kool and the five Power Pals to calm down and have a reaction that matches the size of the problem.

This engaging book is part of our Superflex series, which is designed to help children learn about their own and others’ thoughts and behaviors, and practice strategies for self-regulation across a variety of situations. As kids learn strategies to defeat the Unthinkables and unexpected behavior, they strengthen their flexible thinking and are better able to self-regulate in challenging times.

This illustrated storybook connects to and supports these Social Thinking Vocabulary concepts:

Figuring out the size of the problem

Learning to match reaction size to size of the problem (expected behavior)

Social attention/observation: what are other kids doing/how are they reacting?

Adults who are using the Superflex curriculum and concepts can use Superflex and Kool Q. Cumber to the Rescue! in several ways:

To help children celebrate their ability to defeat Glassman when he appears

To teach about and illustrate how calling upon Kool Q. Cumber can help them remember to match the size of their reaction to the size of a problem

As a companion book to Glassman, to help children compare and contrast the inner workings of their brain in tackling everyday social challenges related to problem and reaction sizes

In situations where students find it fun to act out ONLY the negative powers of the Unthinkables, use Kool Q. Cumber to shift attention to the positive powers for defeating Glassman. Focusing exclusively on the negative powers prevents students from learning how to defeat an Unthinkable!

Kool Q. Cumber can help when other Unthinkables invade a student’s brain alongside Glassman—Rock Brain, Worry Wall, and D.O.F. (Destroyer of Fun), etc.

Recommended Teaching & Learning Pathway

New to the world of Superflex? Explore what it’s all about in this article, and learn strategies for teaching self-awareness and self-regulation in our Superflex eLearning series. Before sharing this book with children, parents and educators need to start at the beginning, introduce core concepts, and work through the Superflex curriculum. Books should be introduced in this order:

Once kids have reached this point, you can choose from an array of Superflex products to teach depending on the concepts your kids need to work on. To dive deeper into strategies for staying calm when problems happen, move on to the books listed below. Buy them individually or as part of a discounted set!